Torgeir Uberg Nærland

Hip Hop and the Public Sphere: Political Commitment and Communicative Practices on the Norwegian Hip Hop Scene

AbstractIn terms of its booming popularity and public outreach, lyrical thematisations of society and adherence to politicised tradition, hip hop as a form of expressive culture may in significant yet largely unexplored ways enter the framework of democratic politics as laid down in Jurgen Habermas’ theory of the public sphere. Based on in-depth interviews with key actors on the Norwegian hip hop-scene, this article explores and discusses political commitment, the degree to which Norwegian rappers can be seen to draw public attention to subaltern experience, the communicative strategies typical of the scene, and how these strategies might be relevant to public discourse. Furthermore, by highlighting recent examples of the mainstream media’s reception of hip hop music, this article shows how songs, lyrics and performances specific to the hip hop genre have entered public discourse, and further argues that hip hop music should be seen as an integral part of democratic public sphere processes.Abstract In terms of its booming popularity and public outreach, lyrical thematisations of society and adherence to politicised tradition, hip hop as a form of expressive culture may in significant yet largely unexplored ways enter the framework of democratic politics as laid down in Jürgen Habermas’ theory of the public sphere. Based on in-depth interviews with key actors on the Norwegian hip hop-scene, this article explores and discusses political commitment, the degree to which Norwegian rappers can be seen to draw public attention to subaltern experience, the communicative strategies typical of the scene, and how these strategies might be relevant to public discourse. Furthermore, by highlighting recent examples of the mainstream media’s reception of hip hop music, this article shows how songs, lyrics and performances specific to the hip hop genre have entered public discourse, and further argues that hip hop music should be seen as an integral part of democratic public sphere processes.

Rhythm, Rhyme and Reason: Hip Hop Expressivity as Political Discourse

Using Norwegian hip hop as an example, this article argues that public sphere theory offers a fruitful theoretical framework in which to understand the political significance of music. Based on a musical and lyrical analysis of Lars Vaular’s ‘Kem Skjøt Siv Jensen’ (Who shot Siv Jensen) – a song that recently became the subject of extensive public political discourse in Norway – this article first highlights how the aesthetic language specific to hip hop music constitutes a form of political discourse that may be particularly effective in addressing and engaging publics. Further, the analysis brings attention to how hip hop music is characterised by phatic, rhetoric, affective and dramatic modes of communication that may be of value to democratic public discourse. Lastly, this article examines the expressive output of ‘Kem Skjøt Siv Jensen’ in light of Habermas’ concept of communicative rationality. In conclusion, the article contends that the dichotomy between (“rational”) verbal argument and (“irrational”) musical expressivity constructed within public sphere theory is contrived, and moreover, that hip hop expressivity under certain conditions does conform to the standards of communicative rationality.

From Musical Expressivity to Public Political Discourse Proper: The Case of Karpe Diem in the Aftermath of the Utøya Massacre

Musical communication is widely understood to be too elusive and abstract to have any discernible significance for political public discourse. However, in the aftermath of the Utøya massacre there have been several instances where hip hop music and performances have been subjected to politicised debate in the Norwegian public sphere. Based on a qualitative case study of the media reception of the Norwegian hip hop group Karpe Diem, this study finds that their music both provoked and fed into extensive public debates concerning topical cultural and political issues. Moreover, this study outlines the process through which Karpe Diem and their music came to be publicly identified, and responded to, as politically significant. Based on the evidence of the findings, this article further argues that hip hop music fills a peripheral (yet significant) function in the model of the political system as outlined by Habermas (2006).

Fictional Entertainment and Public Connection: Audiences and the Everyday Use of TV-series

This study explores how audience’s everyday use of fictional entertainment may facilitate public connection. Whereas the public connection perspective thus far primarily has been employed in the study of audience’s use of factual media, this study, first, conceptually updates the notion of public connection and develops a framework sensitized to capture the significance also of audience’s use of TV-series. Second, based on large-scale qualitative data collection reflecting the sociodemographic diversity in Norway, this study empirically highlights how the use of TV-series forms part of diverse yet typical orientations toward the sphere of politics. The study finds that given favorable combinations of repertoires of media use and habits, alongside resources, values, and dispositions, the viewing of TV-series clearly provides audiences with a link to the sphere of politics. It further finds, however, that the civic exploits of watching TV-series also hinge on a number of factors connected to audience’s background resources.

Altogether now? Symbolic recognition, musical media events and the forging of civic bonds among minority youth in Norway:

Drawing upon interviews with a group of minority youth in Norway, this study argues that recognition theory offers a valuable yet neglected perspective through which we can identify and understand key social and civic dimensions of minority audiences’ media reception. Empirically, the study concentrates on the reception of musical media events in which hip hop artists and performances were prominent. Through empirical examples, this article illustrates how the reception of these media events for the informants entailed experiences of recognition that in turn engendered feelings of symbolic inclusion. Based on the interview data, this study argues that media events constitute ‘moments of recognition’ where dynamics of recognition are intensified. The study further argues that given the politically charged context, music may function as the expressive raw material for what is termed ‘musically imagined civic communities’.